Aspect
by MargaritaDaemonelix
Summary: This machine of a story has too many working parts, and the gears are slowly turning for the machinists that work it. The third book of the Blink saga.
1. Prologue

ASPECT

By MargaritaDaemonelix

Prologue

You hate Altera.

Everything in this damned city reminds you of a Lovecraftian hell, from the people to the surroundings. You've never enjoyed holing yourself up in your apartment, but you don't have a choice if you want to avoid the terrors outside.

You miss Atlas, and you miss your homeland. Altera's technology is a sad mimicry of Atlas's sleek engines at best, and its paved streets carry less than half the grace of the streets of the capital back home. Where is the elegance, the poise? You see only a power hungry struggle and the ugly whims of men around you.

Maybe change is finally starting to come, though. Your "boss" - the man who assigns you to your post - is finally dead, killed by his own kid sister. You didn't know she was with the rebels, but after watching her bodyguard and the red haired kid (is that Elesis's brother?) pry open the junction box and break a crowbar, you've finally decided to emerge from your lonely den.

Messages flood your phone, from Elesis and the others in Feita. Ara and Add have been surprisingly quiet after the emergency " _yo can you kill the lights in the Tunnel"_ message you got from Ara. You're pretty sure they're working up for a surprise of some sort.

You sigh. One message makes its way above the others - the package they'd asked you to receive has arrived, and according to the invoice, it's _huge_. It's sitting in your hastily-rented storage unit right now, and if your instincts are correct, judging by the sheer size and the _FRAGILE CARGO_ label slapped on it, they're either sending you a straight up bomb or a new car - or perhaps a tank.

(Not that you'd mind any of those things. You could use the spare parts.)

But you can't receive it just yet. You're due for a court appearance.

Since your boss is dead and his sister is being tried for murder, you've been called to jury duty alongside the other members of his elite panel of friends. Not many of them are left - Add was carted off to the Tunnel barely two weeks ago, and Thomas Scorpius was killed in the bloodbath in Bethma just four, five days ago.

No one in Elrios mourns him, not his closest friends, not his people. Adam Nasod did not deserve to be remembered with happiness, after all, not by the people of Elrios. Yet national mourning occurs nonetheless, whether forced or natural. Everyone in the courtroom is in black, most of all Eve herself. She's been tucked into a slim black dress that probably makes it hard for her to breathe.

You barely remember to grab a black coat to slip over your lab coat before you walk in a _dignified manner_ into the courtroom, taking your seat as the final member of the jury. Around you are Adam's closest allies, Dr. Alterasia among them. You wince as he picks up a glass of water, shaking so hard that he spills most of it over himself, and takes a sip gingerly.

The terms of the prosecution come forth - Eve is, without a doubt, guilty of killing her brother, and has been under house arrest in the day or so since the event. You can't help but notice she doesn't have a lawyer to defend her, either because they consider her to be capable enough to hold her own, or because they want to watch her crash and burn.

And yet Eve doesn't. She responds to each accusation with cold conviction, never showing any semblance of emotion. Her words are steely and biting, seeking to not only defend herself but to call everyone else out on their flaws. It's like she's a changed woman - no more lively white dresses at soirées, no more playing video games with her friends at 3 am. Her glare conveys nothing short of death.

You make eye contact with her, smiling kindly. She only blinks.

The prosecution reads Adam Nasod's will. His estate, his private quarters, all his own belongings are to go to his sister, with the exception of a villa in Hamel that is to go to his mistress. To his attendants he grants a solid pension after their retirements (that retirement effective immediately) and a home for them each in the residential quarter of Altera.

Everyone holds their breath when the lawyer reads the final designation. The rule of Altera and by proxy all of Elrios is to go to Eve, unless she is a) dead or b) declared to be unfit to rule, in the case of which control of Elrios will go to the Earl of Sander, Ran Haan. Right now, you can only do your best to convince them that Eve is still fit to rule and should not be executed.

And you try. You really do, but it's not enough.

The jury pulls out of the courtroom into the back room to discuss its decision, and at its head is a woman with hair so red it almost looks artificial, and dark violet eyes full of malice. The badge on her shoulder - a red four pointed star - indicates that she hails from Sander, likely a representative for the Earl. She doesn't even sit down at the head of the table, simply claps her hands down. "All in favour of executing Lady Nasod?"

You are the only one to not raise a hand. The woman glares at you, but you hold firm to your decision. There has to be something you can do to make them keep Eve alive. "All in favour of… Not executing Lady Nasod?" She grunts.

Silently, everyone's hands drop as yours sails high in the sky. "Eleven to one. The house of Nasod falls," says one of the senators.

"Don't execute her," you blurt, feeling eleven pairs of eyes resting on you. "Send her off to Velder, or lock her Lanox. Don't you see that she's still a child? Her brother confined her, and if she snapped on him, it was his own fault. Execution will do her no good, and no good to Elrios either."

"If we send her to Velder, she will join with the other exiles that we sent there," a businessman snaps. "And seeing as to how she's escaped the Core twice, I'm not sure any prison cell in Lanox could hold her. We need to execute her."

"Do you not fear uprising?" You counter. "Have none of you considered that the rebels will not stay put once she is dead? Look back at the uprising of five years ago, at the bloodbath in Bethma barely a week ago, even the protests in Elder from two months ago should tell you that there is unrest! If you wish to keep peace in this nation, do not execute her."

The red-haired woman from Sander pounds on the table, and everyone goes silent. "The Earl Haan does not care for _peace_ in this nation," she hisses. "There is no unrest that the Morpheus Project cannot suppress. If the people choose to kill themselves over their lost princess, then so be it." She pushes her way out of the room, shoving against you particularly roughly when she passes by.

You tried. You really did. But it wasn't enough.

You come out of the room after everyone else, as the judge begins to announce the jury's decision. "In an almost unanimous 11-1 decision, the jury has reassured my judgement."

You lock eyes with Eve again, and smile weakly. _I tried,_ you try to tell her. She is still a blank slate, but her eyes seem to convey a level of surprise, and thankfulness.

The gavel comes down with a crash. Eve doesn't even flinch when she is sentenced to death, and only offers an emotionless nod to the red-haired woman from Sander, now identified as Karis Berenice, when she is assigned to monitor her during her last few days.

 _So it's not just Altera,_ you muse as the courtroom empties and Eve is led out in handcuffs. _Sander is just as bad, just as filled with greedy men and women with no hearts. No wonder Eve keeps herself so steely - any sign of weakness here will be exploited to its maximum._

You miss Atlas. You miss calling your sisters at 2 in the morning because time zones are stupid. You miss Yuno, and you miss his gentle touch and gentle words. There's nothing in this stupid city holding you down. You are better than all of them. You can leave whenever you want.

And yet you can't. There's still business left to clean up around here.

You sigh. You still have a package to pick up, after all. The invoice message tells you it was shipped from Lanox, which is slightly alarming in and of itself. You should probably get around to picking that up and seeing what's inside.

You sigh as you slip out of the jacket, letting your white lab coat unfurl to the ground below. The Empyrean badge on your sleeve gleams brightly. You don't know whether to look at it with pride or not.

"Volt, initiate movement," you say into your intercom headset. "Coordinates are being sent now."

You roll up your sleeves and brush a strand of blonde hair out of your face.

"I have a package to pick up."

* * *

 **A/N: while our mystery person goes to pick up the package, i have a chem lab to write and i really don't want to write it**

 **so yeah! third book of Blink! Spectrum was great fun to write and i really got to explore some deeper sides of everyone's nature, but this is where the real fun begins. murders and fighting and heartbreak? check, check and check.**

 **if you've had time to check out my profile, you'll see that under the planned stories section, there's something new as the highest priority. that's going to be my other major project for the year, and i'll be happy if i can finish both Aspect and When the Winter Ends in 2018. i'll stagger updates for the two fics, so next week will be a WtWE update (not really bc i have an assignment due) and the week afterwards, i'll return to Aspect.**

 **that's the idea for this coming year! i'm trying to put some schedules into my life so i stop suffering lmao**

 **and now back to chem bc i seriously need to finish this before midnight**

 **~MargaritaDaemonelix**


	2. Chapter 1

ASPECT

By MargaritaDaemonelix

Chapter 1

So this is how it ends, you think to yourself. I return to hell once more.

When Elesis began to assemble a team to go to Altera, you'd immediately volunteered yourself. Despite Chung's almost desperate insistence, you stood by your decision. "Master Nasod is dead," you'd reminded him. "Is there anyone else there who I'd genuinely be afraid of?"

"Dr. Alterasia," Agatha had suggested. "The ambassador for Ran Haan. Add Kim, even."

But you're not afraid of Alterasia, as crazy as he is, and you're certainly not afraid of any ambassador from Sander. Even Eve's strange ex-fiancé, who is unsettling, doesn't phase you anymore. One of your best friends is in danger, and you'd be damned before you let her die.

Chung was added to the team without even anyone even mentioning it. Like you, there's no way he wouldn't go to rescue Eve. You had to barter for your position, mostly because Chung was concerned and so was Raven, surprisingly. You forget sometimes that he's just as much a victim of Altera as you were.

The last person to go with you is Elsword. He has to represent both himself and Aisha, who has a sprained ankle and will probably need some time to recover from it. They're both close to Eve as well, after all, and they worry just as much as you about her safety.

Elesis sends you all off with no fanfare, only a somber "good luck" and a gentle hug. Raven doesn't quite meet your eyes as you pat him on the shoulder and offer him a smile. He only manages a quiet "goodbye" before turning to leave, brushing his artificial hand past your shoulder for a heartbeat.

Unlike with Aisha and Elsword when they went to intercept Eve and Chung, this mission is carried out with few words. You all understand how urgent this is - even though no date has been publicly set for the execution, every day could be Eve's last, and she's waiting for all of you to make your way to her as quickly as you can. With no way of telling how quickly time is running out, you just have to hope that Eve will bide her time and play her cards until you can get to her.

Elsword does his best to keep all your spirits up during your trek through the forest of Elder. It's murky and dark, even in the daytime, and sunlight hardly makes its way through the foliage above. He makes jokes about how stupid the forest creatures are, throws a rock at a squirrel and pretends to not have stepped in a ditch of mud.

Chung, on the other hand, is constantly deep in thought and still barely talks to anyone. You really don't have much to talk about, so you just respond to Elsword's jokes and quips appropriately, remind both boys to drink water, and pat Chung on the back when he looks like he's about to falter.

His eyes aren't quite focused on anything, and yet he looks like he's fixated entirely on the road ahead. Soundless words come and go from his lips, but they never leave the tip of his tongue.

You're constantly worried for both him and Eve, but this is a new level of stress altogether. With news of Eve's possible execution at any second, you're ready to run all the way to Altera at a moment's notice. You know Chung would do the exact same thing in an instant, but he's so broken right now that you're genuinely beyond worried for him, like a mother worries for her children.

God, you feel old. Sure, you don't baby Eve and Chung, per se, but you're more than just a friend or an older sister to them. Older sisters don't remind their younger siblings to drink water, and they certainly don't clean up after their younger siblings. A natural maternal protective side of you emerges when it comes to Eve and Chung, and you're not sure if you like it.

"How about we make stop here for the night," you suggest, when Elsword's jokes lose their strength and Chung's eyes start to glaze over. "We can rest until the morning, and then we can keep going."

"We're wasting time," Chung interrupts bluntly, his voice flat. It's the first time he's spoken in hours. "Eve could be dying right now, and we'd be letting her die."

His words sting, but you wrack up a smile and put your hand on his shoulder. "Look, Elesis's contact in Altera said she's got at least two more days, right? Eve is going to be strong for us," you tell him. "We need to be strong for her. And right now, you're at your weakest, both physically and mentally. You need to rest, Chung."

He's silent again. You focus on him, gripping his shoulders tightly. It becomes clear after a bit of this that you're pretty much holding him up.

"Fine," he finally relents, shaking free from your hold. "But we need to get up early tomorrow and keep going."

You exchange a worried look with Elsword, but say nothing as you begin to set up camp for the night.

* * *

It's hard to watch Chung suffer like this.

Rena starts a fire and puts on a kettle of hot water to rehydrate your military-esque food, humming something quietly to herself. Whatever it is, it calms Chung down, because every time her voice falters, he tenses up again.

She's trying her best, and you really appreciate that she is. Out of the three of you, she's probably the most level-headed one in spite of the situation. She steers Chung away from walking into trees, which occurs much too often since he really isn't watching the road in front of him, and periodically talks to him softly, reminding him of your mission.

Right now, she's making dinner, so it's your turn to take over the reins. "Hey, Choongles," you tell him, sitting down next to him on the fallen log. "What's up? You wanna talk?"

"How do you do it?" He blurts, exhaling deeply before continuing. "How do you keep your emotions in check without letting them swallow you whole?" He gestures wildly at the fire. "You've had to face sudden things happening. Aisha killed a man and the two of you literally packed up and moved overnight. How did you not flip your shit entirely?"

"Language," comes Rena's lyrical voice.

Chung just sighs and deflates further. "I wish I could cope with this better," he admits. "I've been dragging the rest of you down. Maybe I should just go alone, so you don't have to put up with this."

"That's just stupid," you declare, smacking him in the shoulder. He looks up, a little miffed. "We're not going to let you just march into hell by yourself. We're just as worried as you are, Chung. There's no way we'd let Eve get murdered by them."

You catch Rena's gaze for a moment. Keep him talking, she mouths, before turning back to stirring the food she's making.

"How do you typically destress with things like this happening?" You ask. "There's no way you don't at least open the window and scream."

"That's more of Eve's thing," Chung says. "She opens the window and sticks her face out in the wind until she's less stressed. Sometimes she locks herself up in her workshop and makes and breaks things until she runs out of parts." He pauses for a moment. "We don't really have a lot of super stressful situations, but when we do, I just hit the training room and beat up a few of the training dummies until I'm less on edge."

"Okay, so clearly neither of you have been taught to deal with stress in a healthy, non-destructive manner," you mutter, before looking back up. "But it's good that you're expressing it outwardly instead of bottling it up. Aisha does that… much too often."

You think about coming home to find Aisha's hands wrapped in crimson-stained bandages, and shudder. "There's only so much stress you can take, right? So you gotta," you gesture lamely, "eh. Get it out of your system, y'know?"

Chung stares at you blankly for a while before turning away. For a moment, you're scared that you've said something to offend him, but then he opens his mouth and lets out an earth-shattering scream.

Rena drops her ladle. A flock of birds is shaken into flight. You cautiously remove your hands from over your ears. "Feel better?" You ask.

He nods, looking a little dazed. "Yeah. I think." Hey, it's still better than nothing.

You grin at him, and he grins in reply. The laughter doesn't quite reach his eyes.

From behind you, Rena picks up her ladle again and continues to hum.

* * *

The clouds over Feita start to dissipate the day after you send your brother, Rena and Chung off. The light rain that's been a blanket over the mountain for the past few days fades, and sunlight filters through the remains of the broken dome, turning the city gold and white.

While Aisha recovers from her sprained ankle, you've made a point of bringing her progressively weirder and weirder foods from around the city. She's now strong enough to wander around with just minimal support, although the doctor wants her to keep it wrapped up until it fully heals.

"Maybe we should get pomegranate juice," you muse as you lead her through the marketplace. "I know Coda got some fresh pomegranates two days ago. Or apple fries, have you had those before?"

Aisha smiles as she pushes her bad foot forwards a bit. "Eve really likes those," she says. "Chung made some for us while we were in Altera."

That explains Rena's for them, at least. "Alright, I'll just have to surprise you with something else, then," you declare, rolling up your sleeves for dramatic effect. "What about sriracha chips? Or escargot, those are really good!"

You end up getting burritos from Largo's stand, with extra hot sauce. The sauce leaks out like a river of red when she cuts the burritos in half. "Spicy," she crows, wrapping them up in parchment paper, then tin foil, and handing them to you.

Aisha rises to the challenge and gets just as much hot sauce as you, which only ends in the two of you poking at the untouched halves of your burritos and trying not to cry. "So much for that, then," Aisha laughs/cries, taking another hesitant bite and looking like she regrets everything.

"I can go get us something cold to drink," you suggest, even though you kind of like the adrenaline rush from the spice. It's almost as if the whole world is on fire, which doesn't sound like that bad of a feeling. "Maybe bubble tea, or just straight up cold milk."

She waves the thought off. "I feel terrible having send you off to do things," she says, patting the spot beside her. "Just stay and talk a while. The spice will fade."

So you return to sit on the park bench, and the two of you stare blankly at your burritos from hell. "We're going to have to eat those sometime soon," you mutter. Aisha nods. Briefly, you wonder if you can just eat half the burrito, and put the rest together to form a whole burrito to give to Raven.

Aisha glances at the children playing in the park, deep in thought. Maybe she's wondering if she can convince them to take the burritos. "Not now," she says, and you can't help but agree. "Let's give it a bit of cool-down time."

The breeze is starting to get warmer in the noonday sun, which inevitably beats down into your eyes. "Does Elsword still cook?" You ask, sighing as you lean back and close your eyes. "Anne taught him how to make some things before I left."

Aisha's eyes light up. "He's actually a pretty good chef," she says. "Although he doesn't nearly stack up to your mom. Err, miss Anne."

You feel a laugh bubbling up in your chest. It's strange to know that your brother trusts this bookish girl enough to tell her that the two of you are adopted. "Did you know that Elsword tried to run away from home when we told him?"

Surprise instantly lights up Aisha's expression. "No way," she cackles. "How far did he get?"

"Well, the key word really is tried," you admit, laughing. "Which is unfortunate, because he barely made it out of the neighbourhood. He hid in the park for half an hour before I found him there." You shake your head, a little exasperated. "He didn't think it was possible at first, the fact that we were adopted, but then he kind of realized that I knew and I'd been living with it all along, so I think he just rolled with it."

"Do you know who your biological parents are?" Aisha queries.

You shake your head. "I know they looked nothing like us," you admit. "Which leads me to believe that we were raised by a nanny or something. But the woman I remember as my mother had blue eyes, and my father had red eyes like mine and Elsword's."

The little fragments of your earliest days that still remain in you are happy and yet numbered. A woman you might have called your aunt, with short, choppy hair and blazing eyes, along with her gentle husband, whose curious gaze reflected the moon. The swish of a swatch of pink fabric - or hair, you can't tell - over your cradle. The room where your mother worked, illuminated with the light of the world.

Somehow, the control room is one of your clearest memories of childhood. You remember every button in perfect detail, what each knob did when you turned it, and all of it is narrated by your mother's sweet, gentle voice, guiding you through each operation. Open the reservoir. Raise the temperature. Minimize wind loss in the northern quadrant.

You don't understand the words together, but somehow, when you look at your mental image of the control panel, it makes sense. "I think my mother was a woman of a lot of power," you tell her quietly, "and my father was one of her assistants. I'm also pretty sure their marriage was secret, and Elsword and I were born and raised in secret."

Aisha's eyes narrow. "There's a few women in power in Elrios who could have fit that role," she surmises. "The Abbadon family in Sander, for one, has had several strong female matriarchs. Their last matriarch died three years ago, I think, and besides, they claim high Alteran heritage." Her glance flickers nervously. "No offense."

"None taken," you chuckle. "I've done some research on my own, too, and by the looks of it, there's virtually no chance my biological mother could have been any of the prominent women in Elrios of the last generation." You frown as the wind threatens to tear away the wrapper of your burrito. "That only raises more questions. Maybe Els and I are from overseas? Maybe Maple, I know there are a lot of people there with red eyes and red hair."

"That could be possible… But there are other possibilities," Aisha says. "How familiar are you with the Elian faith?"

"Uh." Anne and Lowe are religious, but not aggressively pious. You do wear the blue El gem of the Elian faith, although you don't openly practice like some of the folks in your old neighbourhood. "I've read the scriptures, does that count?"

"That's more than enough," Aisha says, and you subconsciously let out a breath you didn't know you were holding. "Like, the first book aside, the saving grace of Elrios is the El Lady, right?"

"The Lady of El will cleanse the earth and grant us life," you recite automatically, "and with her arrival on earth with come hope for all the children of Elia. Are you suggesting my mother was a priestess of the El Lady?"

Aisha looks like she's about to burst at the seams, but there's a bit of frustration in the way her brows furrow, like she doesn't know all that she wants to know. "I'm thinking of something," she says very, very quietly, "much, much more ambitious. It may not even be possible, but now that you mention it, things might start to line up."

You shrug. "I guess I'll leave you to it, then," you tell her. "I've never been one for conspiracy theories - not religious ones, anyways."

Seris is still a conspiracy theory, you think to yourself. What are the chances, anyways?

"How's your ankle coming along?" You ask, suddenly eager to turn the subject away as a wave of existential doom hits you. "Is it still sore?"

"A little," Aisha says. She reaches down to feel it, but unlike the past few days, she doesn't flinch in pain when her fingers come in contact with her ankle. "The doctor said it'll take about a week or two to heal completely, and besides, my body's not exactly good at repairing itself."

"Then we'll just have to feed you good food until you are good at repairing yourself," you hum. "Nothing a cold glass of milk can't fix."

The conversation wanders away, into the world of foods from all around Elrios. Aisha describes Anne's cassoulet in perfect, tantalizing detail, and it makes your mouth water. You counter it by describing her croissants, right out of the oven, and you nearly make Aisha cry because regardless of whether Anne is your biological mother or not, her cooking is just really, really good.

"Does Elsword take care of you?" You ask, not caring that Aisha's face instantly goes bright red. "Gosh, I sure hope he does. I'm gonna sock him if he doesn't. He deserves to be socked if he's not treating a lady nicely."

"Elesis, it's not like that," Aisha protests. "We haven't really… reached that level yet. Besides, he is kind. He carried me through the city when we first came back, when I really couldn't walk."

"Yeah, but that's a given," you scoff, leaning towards her with an almost diabolical grin on your lips. "Pray tell, Aisha dear, have you two been up to something while you were in Altera?" When she flushes even more red, you waggle your eyebrows at her. "Shall I ask Chung and Eve when they get back?"

"Please don't," Aisha squeaks, shaking her head. "I mean… I don't know if we really need anything right now, Elsword and I. And I don't even know if we're on that level yet." She buries her face in her hands. "Please end my miserable existence, I don't need to suffer like this."

You laugh out loud. Were you like this when Ara first wandered into Feita, four years ago? "Hey, it'll pass," you offer. "Don't worry about it. I won't make fun if it makes you uncomfortable." You put on a serious face for a moment. "But seriously, if he hurts you, I will actually kick him out of the city and leave him to the wolves."

Aisha manages to remove her hands from her face, and puts on a grateful smile. "I think that might be a bit excessive," she says. "But regardless, thank you, Elesis. I didn't think I could learn this much more about Elsword through talking to you, but I guess I have."

You grin and make a quick salute. "Aye. You ever need someone to talk to, a shoulder to lean on, someone to get some creepy person to fuck off, just tell me."

"I'll keep that in mind," Aisha says. Her bright smile quickly turns to a frown. "We still have two half burritos that haven't even been touched."

You sigh. "Yeah. I'd forgotten about those for a moment."

Her eyes glimmer with mischief. "We got the same type of burrito, right?" She lifts your untouched half and puts it next to her own. "Two halves form a whole. Now, who can we give this to?"

"Raven," you tell her immediately, and she grins.

Well, it's good to know that your brother's (potential) future girlfriend has just the same humour as you do. "Let's wrap this up and see how Raven reacts," she cackles, and you can't help but agree.

* * *

You offer the burrito to Raven while trying to smother your laughter. He accepts it wordlessly, just kind of sits himself down in the kitchen and eats it calmly.

Both you and Aisha are a little disappointed in the lack of reaction, but you open the fridge the next day to no milk whatsoever, so you're not sure what went down in the Raven vs. burrito fight.

You're not too sure you want to know, either.

* * *

You wake up to the sound of wood splintering.

It's not a pretty noise, but you hear it often enough on the farm. Slowly, you open your eyes and try to adjust to the fading light of the fire.

There it is again - the grunt, the crackle of wood, the quiet muttering that follows. You awaken fully as you realize that it's Chung, and instead of sleeping, he's whirling his Destroyer through the air with deadly accuracy, practicing his hand-to-hand combat against… trees.

Stifling a yawn, you crawl to your feet, looking around the area. Rena is peacefully sleeping against another tree, wrapped tightly in her cardigan with one leg drawn up to her chest for balance. The fire seems to be dying down a bit, so you grab a handful of dry leaves from the nearby pile and toss them into the fire, blowing gently until the flames come back to life. When you're satisfied with the intensity, you move another small log into the pit, allowing fire to consume it as well.

Chung is still attacking the tree with deadly accuracy. You watch as he steps, two, three, four, lunges, and swipes out with his Destroyer, before tucking it back in to use as a shield, twisting it to match an imaginary opponent's attack. His next move is more focused, probably meant to rip the weapon out of his opponent's hands before lunging forwards again to smack them down.

Every move he makes is clear and calculated, even if it looks like an elaborate dance of weapons and furiously flailing arms. You realize that he must be developing counterattacks to the things he himself was trained to do, so that he can go head-to-head with any Alteran guard and take them down. Every few swings, he turns around, faces the other direction, and thinks to himself before whirling back into action.

As you watch his training, however, you realize there's something very off about the way he strikes the tree. He's constantly aiming for the roots, striking out towards them like he's trying to sweep the enemy out from under their own feet. It leaves his upper body susceptible to attacks, which you're sure he can handle, but a well-placed bullet could take him out instantaneously.

"You know, you need to cover for your head sometimes," you say out loud when he pauses for a moment to rest. He freezes for a moment, but then turns to face you as you walk over. "Your visor and helmet will only be able to block out so much."

"I know," he says, dropping his Destroyer to the side. "I'm still working on that."

Beads of sweat line his forehead, which make you wonder how long he's been training on this rather chilly night. "Take a break, bro," you tell him. "It's like, what, two in the morning? Have you not gotten any sleep at all?"

"It's three twenty," he corrects. "I woke up at one and couldn't sleep."

"Thinking about Eve?" You ask, and the way Chung's face melts tells you that yes, he has. "Seriously, Chung, we're going to save her, even if it's the last thing we do."

"I know." His voice is almost as lifeless and cold as it was when you returned to Feita. "I'm still kind of in shock, I guess." He shakes his head. "One moment, we were so close to escaping, and then the next, she was… Gone."

The way he hesitates to speak makes you wonder if this is the first time he's come close to losing someone like this. "If you're going to train," you suggest, "maybe you can pick up other strategies that aren't quite conventional." You point at the tree trunk, which stands firm against the Destroyer-shaped groove in the roots. "Instead of always sweeping people's feet out from beneath them, you should go for their faces."

Chung squints at the tree. "Most Alteran forces have visors and helmets like mine, y'know."

"Yeah, but they'll lose their balance and visuals if you slam them in the face." You grin as you take the Destroyer from him. "Always go for the nose. Sometimes they'll stumble back and have a sneezing fit. Take it from a guy who spent his childhood getting in fistfights with the neighbourhood kids."

With those words, you step away from Chung, turn your dominant shoulder to the Destroyer, and slam into the tree.

It doesn't tip over, but there's a boom that shakes the nearby birds out of their perches. "Whoops," you manage, handing the Destroyer back to Chung. "Now you try. Push it up and put your shoulder into it."

Chung inhales sharply, nods, and faces the tree. "I hope I don't break the tree," he says, and charges.

The boom that resonates from his impact against the tree is louder than yours, mostly because Chung is much more experienced than you with the heavy weapon. However, the cracking noise that splits the air (and the tree!) afterwards is surprising.

You and Chung stand awkwardly as the oak tree wobbles and tips over, crashing to the forest floor with a boom. "Uh, timber?" You laugh weakly, shrugging. "Nice work, Chung."

"What are you two doing?" You turn around to find Rena rubbing her eyes sleepily, assessing the damage. "It's four in the morning, what are you doing awake?" She snaps. "And destroying trees, at that! Haven't you considered the birds and small animals that might have lived in that tree?"

She tucks her cardigan back around her, clearly too tired to deal with the consequences of your early-morning tree destroying adventures. "If you two stay up any longer, I'm not making any coffee for you in the morning," she says, sitting back down at the base of her tree. She's out cold in moments.

You glance over at Chung. He's fighting to keep a smile off his face - the first time he's smiled since your escape from Altera. "That was stupid," he mumbles, clapping you on the shoulder. "It is really getting late, I guess. We should get some sleep."

"Alright then." You pat him on the back and return to your own tree. "Night, Chung."

As you sit back down at your tree, you realize the fire is dying again. The gust of wind from the falling tree must have nearly blown it out. You feed it another handful of leaves, blowing lightly until the flames flicker back to life.

You sit down once more, wrapping your jacket over your torso. On the other side of the fire, both Chung and Rena are already fast asleep. There's a small smile on Chung's face as he sleeps, and tranquility lines his tired features, for the first time since Altera.

He looks peaceful.

* * *

 **A/N:** **please end me, mobile killed my formatting, I'll come back and fix it when I get home (EDIT: fixed!)**

 **sorry for no update last week, I had exams and honestly? post-exam depression hits like a brick**

 **realistically I shouldn't be making more AUs but I keep making more AUs, so the zombie apocalypse fic is going up next week. updates will be sporadic**

 **anyways I have IB Theory of Knowledge rn and it's much more entertaining than expected, this is the level of philosophical bs I like**

 **~Marg**


	3. Chapter 2

ASPECT

By MargaritaDaemonelix

Chapter 2

 _Previously in the Blink saga..._

"Please explain yourselves," the strange woman says sternly. She looks vaguely disappointed.

Add laughs nervously as he moves to the side of the crate that has finally been opened. "Ehehe… Hey, Blondie."

You gulp in air, unsure of what to say. The blonde woman looks like she could snap your ten year old body in half with her fingers. Ciel grips your hand tightly, his other hand already on his revolver.

The first of your group to move, not surprisingly, is Ara. "Rosie-Posie!" She chortles, wriggling out of the crate to wrap the woman in a bear hug. "It's really been too long! How have you been?"

Behind them, the man practically plated in steel points his assault rifle at Ara, awaiting orders. "Volt, disengage battle mode," the woman commands. "These are friends." You don't miss the way her lips form the words "I think" afterwards, as her bodyguard stands down.

"We've been in that box for a week," Add groans, crawling out and standing up to stretch his back. "The fact that my makeshift waste receptacles actually worked is a small wonder."

"Is that why it smells so bad?" The woman asks, wrinkling her nose. "Yikes, man." She catches your eye and laughs. "Y'all brought a kid? Can you fight?"

You puff up a little bit. Steel still teases you about being a "kid", and you're really not quite over being transferred to another body. Before you can open your mouth and knock her over with a wave of expletives, though, Add speaks up. "That's the Head Librarian. You can call her Lu, or gremlin."

You smack him in the shoulder. "That doesn't make things sound any better."

At least the woman understands. "Gotcha, miss," she says, helping you to your feet. Her hands are calloused, like she's been working with rough materials often. "I'm First Lieutenant Anna Testarossa, but you can call me Rose."

That puts a name to the face, so you shake her hand and grin happily. "Technically, I used to be Lady Luciela Rowena Sourcream, Head Librarian of the Imperial Archives in Sander," you tell her. "Now I'm Lucia Lucas, but everyone calls me Lu." You pause for a moment. "Please don't call me gremlin."

Rose laughs out loud. "Aye. And who's the tall guy?"

"Ciel Lucas. Accidental guardian of one Miss Lu," Ciel says, smiling wryly at you before genuinely smiling and shaking Rose's hand. "Nice to meet you."

"And to you too." Ciel looks stiff, like he was when Ara and Add first barrelled into your lives. His shoulders are tense, like he's sensing a foreign source of danger in Rose. To you, Rose is just a bright, loveable girl who kinda reminds you of a cross of your younger self (older self?) and Ara.

If Ara can trust her, then you figure you can too. Considering the strange kinds of people Ara and Add work with (Ciel being one of them) and can trust, then there shouldn't be many common folk who you can't trust.

Rose doesn't seem like common folk, though. Her unique badge and uniform make you uncomfortable; where is she from? The golden orb and black plaque aren't anything you've ever seen. Perhaps she's a sleeper agent from overseas - then again, a sleeper agent wouldn't wear their own badge so proudly.

"I know you're probably wondering what this badge means," Rose says, cutting through your thoughts. "It drives me nuts too, trust me." She smiles. "I'm Empyrean by nationality, but I'm stationed here for research purposes." She grins. "Sure, I'm part of the army, but I'm an engineer."

She reaches into her pocket, withdrawing a slim stick and holding it out on her palm. Within moments, it comes to life, thin legs unfolding from its sides. "You can hold it, if you want," she chuckles. "They're not real bugs, so they don't bite."

"Are these meant for infiltration purposes?" Ciel queries as the small robotic spider (it's shaped more like a virus though) scuttles from Rose's hands into yours. It feels like a breeze of silk fluttering across the surface of your skin, barely just milligrams in mass. Even as you contort your hand this way and that, the spider dances across your skin to keep its balance.

Rose snorts. "Nah. I built these to slip under Add's door, so I could make sure the Alterans hadn't already gotten in." She gives Add a pointed look. "Your boots are really, really soggy, by the way."

"That's because the ceiling is leaky!" Add protests.

"At least put them in the dryer and give them a cycle or two," Ara chastises, smacking him in the back of the head. "Let's get going. Ciel, please make us some actual food when we get there."

You instantly perk up at the thought of _actual food_. With the Alteran pantry at his disposal, who knows what Ciel might be able to conjure up? "I second this notion!"

Rose laughs. "You guys must be starving. I'll walk you guys there, and then I'll need to come back here." She frowns. "Man, how am I supposed to get rid of this box?"

All of you turn to Ara, who shrugs sheepishly. "It's… uh, biodegradable?"

(It turns out it's not. Rose has her large robot guard haul it to the trash depot unceremoniously.)

* * *

Even though it's only been two years since your undercover stint in Altera, you're still instantly filled with bittersweet nostalgia of eight years ago when you approach Add's house. You still remember in clear detail every inch of the living room carpet, every staircase where you stumbled, every tile on the kitchen floor that burned your skin when you fell.

He still has all his fancy locks - first the key, then the card, then the fingerprint, and finally the contacts. You know for a fact that yours unlocks the door just as well as his does - then again, you prefer to keep your eyes in their natural colour when you're not working. The unique pigment sequence locked inside ensures that no one can hack into the lock, since it generates a new kaleidoscopic pattern each time.

Ciel goes stiff when Add blinks and his sclera turn black for a second, but then you poke him in the arm and give him a reassuring smile. "That's our key into the house," you tell him, turning on your own contacts for a second. Lu yelps as she catches sight of your red irises and nearly drops the spider, but you laugh and turn them back off. "The contacts are clear normally, don't worry. I won't go pulling any horror movies on you anytime soon."

The front door swings open with a click, and Add sweeps an arm out. "Welcome to my not-so humble abode. Make yourselves at home."

Your first thought is that he should really be repairing the leak in the ceiling, before you realize that the both of you have been out and about, being chased by the Alteran government. Your second thought is that his boots look like they're melting, and everyone's wrinkled noses tell you that you're not the only one suffering in their midst.

"Kitchen's in the back of the first floor," Add says, shouldering off his black jacket and hanging it up on its hook. "There's a washroom on every floor, you'll find one eventually."

"Wait, how many floors are there?" Ciel asks.

"Six." Add shrugs. "The top three are closed off, though. Don't go up there unless you want to try and code a time-rewriting algorithm."

Rose makes a choking noise, but then recovers. "I should get going before my new boss starts barking for me," she says, patting your shoulder. "You know my handle, message me if you need anything. Don't leave the house, I'll be back with groceries since I know for a fact that Add's fridge is home to exactly one jar of pickles and nothing else."

You glance at Add, who offers a sheepish smile. "I'm gonna run and check my computers upstairs," he says, reaching for Rose's hand and shaking it. "Thanks again, Blondie."

"This means you owe me one, now," Rose chuckles. "But, anytime, guys."

She turns to give you a quick hug. "I'll buy some of the spicy Sanderian chips you really like," she whispers, not-so quietly.

"Thank you, Rosie-Posie," you giggle. "Really."

"And you two!" As soon as Rose breaks free from your hold, she's scooping Lu and Ciel into her hug, ignoring the fact that Lu's face is jammed into her chest. "You're part of the squad already. Welcome to the revolution!"

"Yes," Lu squeaks, and you can't help but laugh as she pulls her face out of Rose's chest. "Thank you...?"

Rose laughs brightly. "Then I'll go grab some groceries," she says. "You guys get rested and wash up. Elesis is sending a handful of hers to meet us tomorrow."

She smiles, gives a little salute with two fingers, and turns to go, letting the door click shut behind her.

Add clears his throat awkwardly. He's donned the white lab coat he typically wears in the house, and he's got a lollipop dangling from his mouth, probably from his pocket. "So, uh, do you guys want to go explore the house a bit, check out the spare bedrooms so you can claim one?"

Lu's eyes go wide. "Yeah!" She chirps, dashing the stairs and probably giving Ciel a heart attack in the process. "Catch me if you can, Ciel!"

He sighs and gives you a weak smile. "I'd better go look for her before she gets lost," he supplies. "Tell me when Lieutenant Rose gets back with groceries." He takes off up the stairs after Lu, and you can't help but think he'll get lost before she does.

With the house at your disposal, you're now filled with a sense of immense nostalgia. Add has taken the lift up to check on his computers, so you're the only one left to somehow clean up the mess of his boots. You look around for anything to pick them up with before heading to the kitchen in search of a plastic bag.

There is, in fact, only a lone jar of pickles in the fridge. It hasn't been opened yet. Add doesn't even like pickles, and neither do you, so you're not too sure why it's there. There's a few wads of dirtied saran wrap in the garbage, indicating that Add was probably too tired to actually deal with plates. You honestly can't blame him - a lot of engineering went into the final days before Eve and Chung's escape.

You find a box of garbage bags in the cabinet under the sink and take one, then take another just to be safe. You're not quite sure if you want wash the boots or just straight up chuck them in the trash, but in either case, you're not touching them with your bare hands.

Running back to the foyer, you kneel down next to the shoe mat. If it weren't for the ridge on the edges, the water leaking from the ceiling would have overflowed onto the clean wooden floors long ago.

Gingerly, you wrap one of the plastic bags around your hand and use it like a glove to pick up the boots. They're at least 50% water by mass at this point, but the other plastic bag supports their mass. Grimacing, you tie the bag up and toss the one you used as a glove in the trash.

The boots can be salvaged - anything can be, really, in your hands - but you have to figure out what the source of the issue is. If memory serves you right, the foyer is right under the second floor bathroom. You head up the stairs to the second floor, and turn the corner into the bathroom.

There's an eerie dripping noise that fills the bathroom, probably from below the sink. When you step in, though, there's a thin layer of water that lines the floor, coming up from the leaking toilet. You sigh and toss the bag of boots and water into the tub, not even wincing when they land with a splatter.

The water is starting to leak out of the bathroom and into the hall. You should really get to cleaning that up, before more than just the boots get soggy.

You run back downstairs and grab a mop and bucket from the kitchen before running back up. Ten minutes of mopping later, you're left with one not waterlogged bathroom, one mildly troubleshooted toilet (it turns out one of the smaller pipes inside was clogged) and one bag of still soggy boots.

With your first mission now complete, you grab the bag and head back down the stairs, taking a sharp turn and going down into the basement. It seems dark and dangerous because the railing isn't wood like the rest of the house but metal, but there's a nice home entertainment centre in the back room. You don't head back there, though - your destination is the laundry room.

You throw the lid of the washing machine open and dump the boots in. They make an ugly _squelch_ as they leave the bag and hit the base of the washer. You grimace and reach for the detergent. "Hopefully this will cleanse you of your toilet water," you mutter, pouring one, two, three cups of detergent in the detergent socket. "Be cleansed, toilet demons."

You turn the washer on, set the mode to _heavy duty_ , and hit the _start cycle_ button with some degree of satisfaction. In fifty-four minutes, you'll be rewarded for your toils with a pair of clean boots.

They're not even your boots. You're not quite sure why you went through all that trouble to get them washed.

As you ascend the stairs, you catch a stain in the mat in the foyer that's all too familiar to you. It's been skillfully hidden under the legs of an umbrella stand, but with a severe lack of umbrellas you see its dark edges against the pale carpet.

This stain is two parts the contents of your stomach on the day of your execution, at least one part Alterasia, and one part emetic medication. It used to be closer to the door, except Add turned the mat around and put his umbrella stand over it.

There's little secrets like this hidden all over the house. The breakfast table, missing a corner. A variety of stained plastic buckets under the sink. You ascend the stairs to the third storey, which only reveals more of these little secrets. Another ugly stain, this time on wooden floorboards. The vacuum cleaner's permanent home outside the room labelled _Ara's room_.

You push open the door of the room where you forced Alterasia out of your body. More memories flood back to you - the curtains, covered in tiny bloody butterflies that can't fly away, because Add tried to wash them off with hot water.

They say that you can't truly appreciate having a clear nose until it gets stuffy, and really, it's the same idea with Alterasia. You remember the feeling of burning Alterasia coursing through your veins, but not the pain. You hope you'll never have to go through that, and none of your friends ever will either.

You run your hands over the items in the room that now becomes your home: the slim frame of the chair, the sturdy desk and all its books, the dresser that still hides some of your most important discoveries. Memories of your time here undercover flood back to you, and you can't help but smile despite the horrors that you survived here eight years ago.

A thin pair of arms snake around you and hold you close to their owner. "It hasn't changed at all," Add says quietly. "I do come in to wipe away the dust, though."

"Thanks." You rest your hands on his arms, in a bit of an awkward embrace. "I threw your boots in the wash, by the way."

Add snorts. "Thanks. I should probably get to fixing the leak."

"I've already fixed it." You smile. "All you gotta do is clean up the puddle downstairs."

"You don't have to do this," he says, and you can tell he's frowning by the way his voice changes. "Really, you should be getting some rest, after you saved my ass and hauled us to Lan-"

"That's my job," you tell him. "I owe you my life, literally."

"And I owe you mine," he replies. You're suddenly reminded of the terrible prison, of killing so many people to try and fight your way to him. This is the idiot you've made your partner in crime, after all. "So let's consider it even."

For good measure, he tightens his hug for just a moment before letting go altogether. "I checked everything, all the computers," he says. "They didn't get in, thankfully. All our work is safe, and no one's identity has been breached or anything."

"That's good." You stretch your arms lazily over your head as you turn to face him. "Show must go on, right?"

 _"Miss Lu! Miss Lu? Where are you? I think I'm lost!"_

You look at Add for a moment before the both of you break into light laughter. "I knew it," you chuckle, pulling him forwards by the sleeve. "C'mon, let's go find those two before they stumble onto the fifth floor and accidentally delete the entirety of Ruben."

The door clicks shut behind you, and you don't look back.

* * *

Rose returns later with actual groceries, _actual food_ , and you have to hold back a smirk as Add and Lu fight over the single package of chocolate chip cookies inside. "Guys," Ciel begs, " _children_ , please."

"There's no use," you call out, before turning to Rose and letting your laughter loose. "Man, the crate was brutal. No wonder Add and Lu are going wild."

"I can tell." Rose looks amused, like she's seen this happen before. "I take it that Ciel does most of the cooking among you guys?"

"Yeah, how could you tell?" You snark.

Rose rolls her eyes. "He's shielding the onions with a pot lid. Only kitchen junkies do that."

At that, the both of you laugh out loud again. At long last, you've been released from the confines of the crate. You've spent a week curled up in a ball, your legs are still cramping, and frankly, it feels great to be walking again. Freedom is blissful, in this moment.

But then Rose's expression turns a bit dark, as if she's just remembered something important. "I still need to debrief you guys on what happened," she says, extracting a thin cell phone from her coat pocket. "There's been quite a handful of changes in the grand scheme of things since you guys entered the box."

"We know most of the big details," you tell her. "Add still had internet access from his phone in the crate."

"Yeah, but there's been a lot of planning happening too," Rose insists. "And there's no way you know about that, because none of it has been digitized."

"How about we make dinner first, and then we talk revolution?" Ciel calls from inside the kitchen. "I see you've bought udon and pork, I could make us chashu udon."

Your mouth starts to water against your better judgement. You haven't had good chashu udon since before your exile. "Oh my god, please do," you gasp, flinging yourself dramatically across the kitchen counter (and nearly knocking over a two-litre bottle of cola). "I will actually pay you to make chashu udon."

So you and Add and Lu and Rose sit in astounded silence around the kitchen island, watching as Ciel moves around. He unwraps the block of pork belly, tossing it into a marinade of soy sauce, rice wine, ginger and red yeast rice. "The rice is mostly for coloration," he explains, sealing the pork, sauce and all into a plastic zip bag. "It'll give the pork a really nice burgundy colour once it comes out of the rice cooker."

"You're making chashu in my _rice cooker?_ " Add squawks, to which you have to hold back a smile. "Hey, if you break it, you pay."

"I'll make cake in your rice cooker," Ciel challenges. "I'll make chashu in your rice cooker. Hell, I'll make _rice_ in your rice cooker, and there's nothing you can do to stop me."

"Actually, there is," Rose pipes up. "There isn't any rice in the house, sorry."

So you continue to watch Ciel cook. He chops green onions and thin slices of preserved ginger, putting them to the side in small bowls and reaching for the chicken stock in the cupboard. You weren't entirely sure that there _was_ chicken stock to begin with, but watching Ciel cook is more than enough to keep your thoughts from wandering to the contents of the refrigerator.

"Alright, while dinner is cooking," Rose says, pouring herself a glass of water, "I'll bring you guys up to date on the current state of events. I'll try to go in chronological order so it makes more sense, but literally _nothing_ is going to make any sense.

"Lady Nasod and her friends from the resistance allied themselves with a few of the staff around the Core, namely Adel, Amos, Agatha and Aida," she continues. "From what I've gathered, the girl named Aisha was able to distract Adam under the guise of a businesswoman long enough that the others could plot their escape by truck."

"Did it work?" Lu asks.

Rose grimaces. "Yes and no," she says cautiously. "On one hand, the four staff members escaped with Elsword, Aisha and Chung."

"So Eve didn't escape?" You gasp. "Oh no, poor thing."

"On the other hand…" Rose purses her lips and makes eye contact slowly with each of you. "As far as I know, they were escaping through the kitchens when Adam Nasod burst in. Lady Nasod and her bodyguard took off in separately to divert the guards chasing them from the truck. They were able to make parachutes out of sleeping bags and bungee cords so they could jump down the cliff into Elder. Only the bodyguard made it down, though for reasons unknown. Lady Nasod was captured shortly afterwards.

"Somewhere during their run, they encountered Adam Nasod. I haven't finished reading the full report yet, but… The autopsy came back with the reason of death being a laser shot through the head."

The room immediately falls silent. "She killed him," Add says flatly, gripping your hand tightly. You inhale sharply, keeping your breathing level as Add begins to panic beside you.

"Add," you say softly, "he would have destroyed her if she hadn't killed him."

"That's not what I'm worried about," he says. "If Adam is dead, then who's running the country?"

"Currently, because Eve is on death row and to be executed, control of the affairs of Elrios are in the hands of Earl Ran Haan in Sander," Rose says, and your blood instantly boils. Add grips it tighter, and you realize with a start that he wasn't so much scared for Eve as he was for you. "However, as the Earl has to sort out his own affairs in Sander, he currently has a representative here in his place."

"How long can we stall Eve's execution for?" You ask quickly, thinking of all your contacts across the city. You really don't have many. Most of your friends aren't from priss city. "Or at least, how long do we have?"

"One or two more days, tops," Rose admits. "I'm trying to slow things down as much as I can, and of course Lady Nasod has essentially gone catatonic to refuse to give up information on the resistance, but there's only so much we can do. Earl Ran is demanding her execution as soon as possible."

She seems to want to say something else, thinks again, and chucks back the rest of her water before speaking again. "I was part of the jury at her trial," she says hoarsely. "I thought I could tilt things in her favour. I was the _only one_ who voted against executing her."

"Well, that won't do," Ciel finally says, breaking the heavy silence. "We can't just sit around while Lady Eve is in danger of being executed. Rose, you did say that Elesis was sending some of hers to help us, right?"

This noticeably gives Rose more energy. "Yes. As far as I know, she is sending her brother, as well as Lady Nasod's bodyguard and former handmaid. They will know the Core the best, and I've been told that Elsword was responsible for blowing out all the electricity in the Core with nothing but half a crowbar."

"Then after that, we'll have more people to work with, and we can properly plan out our next move." Ciel hesitates. "Ara, I know this isn't my place to ask this, but if there's any way you might be able to delay your brother-"

You shake your head. "Unless you can physically get me to Sander so I can beat him up, I can't hijack him from here," you confess. "But if we can start by taking down his representative… That would be a good place to start defying his so-called authority.

"There's no way Eve isn't in a complete cone of silence, unless you have a way to get information to her in person." You glance up at Rose. "Who are her retainers right now?"

"The Arkwright sisters of COBO," Rose replies. "They're working closely with Feita and us right now. There shouldn't be much fuss with them, they know who we are."

"Then we'll alert Eve of our presence through them," you decide, brushing your free hand across the counter. "From there… I have no idea how we're gonna bust her out, but I hope it'll be awesome and no one will die in the process."

The rice cooker beeps. "Chashu's ready," Ciel announces, moving over to open the machine and retrieve the meat inside. "I'll start boiling the udon."

As Lu shuffles off to watch him cook, Add grips your hand tightly again. "Are you going to be okay?" He asks softly. "Don't go off trying to vigilante your brother."

"He isn't my brother anymore," you respond. "He stopped being my brother the minute he tried to hurt my family."

Add doesn't say anything more, but squeezes your hand one final time before shuffling off his seat as well.

The chashu udon is delicious, but in the end all you can feel is sawdust clogging up your lungs and threatening to choke you.

* * *

 **A/N: it has been seven slutty, slutty months since i last updated this fic**

 **the honest real reason i updated it is because i don't have anything else prepared and this was the only thing i had close to completed so i just cleaned it up and capped it off**

 **the honest real reason i haven't been updating is because i just keep making new ideas for new fics? someone stop me**

 **~Marg**


End file.
